Sketcher Fest, Day 1: Market Sketch Walk and Kumi’s Workshop

 

7/11/26 Edmonds Summer Market

After a year of planning and anticipation, Sketcher Fest 2026 was finally on! As an event partner, USk Seattle led three free Sketch Walks throughout the weekend. First up was Saturday morning at the Edmonds Summer Market. I was so busy chatting with other sketchers I bumped into that I didn’t have much time to sketch, but I didn’t mind – meeting friends I hadn’t seen in a year or more is one of the most important parts of participating in an event like Sketcher Fest.

I had to miss the throwdown to get on with my main responsibility of the day: Serving as volunteer liaison for guest artist Kumi Matsukawa. As I had mentioned previously, I’ve been a fan and friend of Kumi for years, and when I heard she would be a guest artist this year, I immediately volunteered to be her liaison. Using markers and other materials in varying colors Kumi showed her hard-working students how to “wink and squint” (her term for using one eye to measure proportions and squinting to block out details) their way to stronger, more confident sketches. 

Kumi Matsukawa's workshop

Registering Kumi's workshop participants (photo by Kumi)

My job as liaison was to register participants, take lots of photos for promotional use by Sketcher Fest and the instructor, and generally assist Kumi and her students during the workshop as needed. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was inspiring to watch Kumi teach and rewarding to help a sketcher I have long admired.

Kumi describing her unique process to students

Extracurricular Sketcher Fest: Ice Cream Cruise and More

 

7/10/26 Ice Cream Cruise from Fishermen's Terminal through the Ship Canal, Lake Union and Lake Washington

After three consecutive years of participating in the Ice Cream Cruise, it is still my favorite Sketcher Fest event! (See my posts from 2025 and 2024.) Although not strictly part of the weekend event in Edmonds, the cruise offers the guest artists and volunteers an opportunity to relax and socialize before the busy event gets under way. This year, Gab Campanario organized cruises on two days, so more sketchers were able to attend.

Boarding the chartered Fremont Avenue at Fishermen’s Terminal, we cruised through the Lake Washington Ship Canal to Lake Union and all the way to Lake Washington and back. There is something so relaxing and serene about being on the water on a sparkling morning, sketching while chatting with friends.

As I’ve done in previous years, I made small vignettes of anything that caught my eye, chasing perspective around bends in the water or simply overlooking perspective. 

Sticker by Johnny

After we docked again at Fishermen’s Terminal, some of us stayed for lunch and then lingered for more sketching at the terminal (below).

Fishermen's Memorial

Fishermen's Terminal

When that was done, a few of us still hadn’t had enough fun, so we moved on to nearby Ballard Locks, where we discovered stamps for our sketchbooks in the visitors’ center.

Ballard Locks

What a fun-filled day!

Group photo just after the cruise

Lake Washington Ship Canal and Montlake Bridge

Fishermen's Terminal throwdown

Ice Cream Cruise throwdown

Extracurricular Sketcher Fest: Denny Hall and Lake Union

 

7/9/26 UW campus

Kumi Matsukawa and I have been following each other for years. I have many fond memories of sketching with her in Tokyo in 2015 and again in 2017 during the Chicago symposium. When I heard she would be on this year’s Sketcher Fest roster as a guest artist and workshop instructor, I jumped at the opportunity to be her assistant.

A couple of days before the official event began, Cathy and I took her to a few spots for some warmup sketching. Our original plans were thwarted by a power outage on some parts of the light rail, so we improvised and found places closer to home that I could easily drive to, such as the University of Washington campus (above).

When we couldn’t find parking at Gas Works Park, Kumi suggested that we simply stop at any street where the lake and urban stuff was visible, such as power lines and poles (a sketcher after my own heart).

Northlake

We ended the fun day with dinner and beverages at Gasworks Brewing, which has a huge sunny patio. Bonus: I scored parking very close to this popular venue, which was mobbed. We even got a table without waiting!

Gasworks Brewing Co.

Cathy, Kumi and me at Denny Hall

Extracurricular Sketcher Fest: UW Quad and Lake Union Park

 

7/8/26 UW Quad cherry trees

Although the University of Washington Quad cherry trees get all the fanfare when they blossom, those same trees have sublime beauty in fall. In summer, they hardly get any notice, but I love these old trees in all seasons.

Cathy is in town for Sketcher Fest, and I thought it would be fun to show her the UW campus, including the Quad’s cherry trees. Without showy blossoms, the massive, gnarled trunks can steal the show.

The next day, despite a light rail power outage that slowed our travel down considerably, I enjoyed showing Cathy Lake Union Park and the vintage boats moored there.

7/9/26 Lake Union Park

Discovery Park Radar Tower

 

7/7/26 Discovery Park

Since I hadn’t been to Discovery Park in many years (since 2012, according to my blog), I ended up hiking on many incorrect trails to find this view of the 100-foot Ft. Lawton radar tower. Now a landmark historic site, the US Air Force’s Cold War “Radome” operated from 1960 to 1963.

I can see this "golf ball" from my house in Maple Leaf seven miles away! My intention was to make a larger color sketch, but with no shade, I never got past this thumbnail study. I’ll go back on a less sunny day to sketch it again.

The Most Direct Path

 

5/18/14 Cannon Beach

3/1/16 Cannon Beach

On July 2, I lost my beloved spouse guy of 37 years. Loss is not new to me; I have been losing Greg a little more each day for many years. After walking with him on the long, hard road through dementia, I am relieved and grateful that he is finally free.

5/23/19 Photographing the viaduct

9/30/16 Greg watching as our skylight is reinstalled.

My heart is broken.

Even when I knew the end was close, I kept drawing. The day he died and every day since, I have continued drawing. It heals and sooths me as nothing else can. The world may feel like it has stopped, but in fact, it goes on, and I’m still part of it. Drawing is my most direct path to all that I love about life, even when the biggest part of it has gone.

(Shown here are a few sketches I’ve made of Greg, mostly from my early sketching years. I’ve also practiced a few portraits from photos, and I think I got him to sit for me briefly just once. I made my last drawing of him two days before he died. That one’s just for me and won’t be shared.)

4/28/26

Green Lake Trees

 

7/5/26 Green Lake Park

Every now and then, I’m a good girl: Before launching into the larger color sketch, I made a small thumbnail (below) to study the composition.